People here often talk about gaining weight over their period, and I'm curious to whether it really is the majority, or whether it's just that the ones who don't gain weight in this way don't join in those discussions. I'm also curious as to how far it's happening because people get hungrier and eat more, and how far it's purely water retention.
I'm also interested in what people have found with their measurements. I don't gain weight over my period, but I've recently started measuring myself. My period's due today, and I'm certainly noticing a bit of bloating, although my weight is down half a pound. So I measured, and yep, my measurements generally went up, mainly on the chest (no surprises there) and legs (?!). Very odd.
I only measure inches every three months, so I can't be counted there.
However, I do tend to gain or maintain around my TOM without changing what I eat. I had the same pattern when I originally lost 100 pounds. About every 4 - 5 weeks I'd have a stall/gain week, and then go back to losing fairly consistently.
I said I gain weight and inches. For me it really is water retention because it comes off right after my period goes away. TOM is here right now and I'm measuring about 1 inch larger around my waist.
It seems like my weight variation might be decreasing as I lose weight. This time around my weight was actually stable during TOM and I did have one high day but today TOM is still here and I even weigh-ed in over 0.5lbs lighter. I'm hoping that means I get a nice whoosh afterwards!
Oh, and I'd say my eating is pretty much the same. This time around I did have some cravings but I was also more active than usual so it's probably from that.
Yeah, I gain both weight and inches around and shortly after my period, but then it disappears so it isn't weight so much as it's water. I stay on plan mostly, but allow myself the awful food I crave if I don't go overboard and just budget within my calories.
Yep. I gain weight in the week before my period (1-2 pounds) and gain a little bit (half inch or so, more like an inch on the waist) on my measurements pretty much everywhere--bust, waist, hips, legs, etc. On the first day or two of my period, the weight drops off (haven't measured at this exact time before, but I bet the measurements drop, too).
I gain like five pounds during my period and then it goes away after my period's over. I freaked out the first time I weighed myself during my period. I was convinced I'd gained five pounds of fat. But no, it was just water weight.
Conclusions so far: most people who fill in this poll, which may be a negatively biased group (people with no menstrual/premenstrual problems being less likely to click on the link), have problems with some sort of increase around their period.
With inches, the ones who measured almost all gained inches, but most people didn't measure. Since measuring is traditionally done a lot less often than weighing, it could be that some people are deliberately not measuring when they know they'll be bloated.
With weighing, I was surprised at how few people ticked the "I don't weigh myself around my period/at all" box, although this could be due to the self-selecting nature of the survey. We often hear from people on this forum who avoid the scales when they're bloated. I was also surprised, judging by what you gather from this forum, that they weren't more people who ate more before/during their period, although it was reasonably evenly split between that and people who gained (water) weight without eating more.
Either way, this survey definitely suggests a strong likelihood that people will gain weight/inches around their period. Which admittedly we'd all worked out already, but for all I knew it could have been a small, noisy minority.
I weigh myself daily and chart it, and it's always kind of amused me that you can see my periods on the chart by the little 2-lb bump in the line. I've never noticed any increase in my measurements during my period, though - there may be some bloating, but if so, it's too spread out to really be reflected by the tape measure.
Ever since I started on this journey I've weighed myself every day/couple of days just to see how my weight fluctuates (I never record it as my ACTUAL weight, but as long as I see it go down over time, I'm happy, and don't count an official 'loss' until it's at or below said weight more often than not) and I'll be perfectly honest...the amount of weight I gain before my period is the same amount of weight that I gain when I'm not completely hydrated...like 2 lbs...and it only lasts a day or so, or until I kick up my water intake again! So at any given time, maybe like once a week, I'll step on the scale and see a 2lb gain. I'll drink the amount of water I'm supposed to be drinking and either the next day or the day after the weight is off again!
I guess all of my PMS is emotional, I get CRANKY!!
I am a daily weigher and have been on maintenance for the last two + months. When I see a 2-3 pound uptick I review my diet for the past 36-48 hours (salt is big culprit) or the calendar. I have a 25 day cycle and bloat up a couple of days before. Regardless, of the reason, I usually flush out the excess within days.
Case in point. This past Wednesday for the weigh in thread I was 178 (+2 pounds) and started ToM on Saturday. Today I am back to 176 and that is after weekend eating. However, during my maintainence period the scale has never dipped below 176 so I guess I'm right on track, there, but I hope to change that starting next week when I am back in loss mode.
Poll: do you gain weight over your period?
